Moro and human rights groups in Cotabato City protesting President Aquino’s militarization policies in Mindanao (photo courtesy of Kawagib/Bulatlat).

President Aquino, taking questions during an overseas trip to New Zealand said that his human rights record “speaks for itself” and that his presidency puts human rights “first.” He also dismissed issues of human rights abuses to reporters by labeling the issue of human rights as “leftist propaganda.” In a press release the human rights group Karapatan had this to say:

Thus, said Cristina Palabay, Karapatan secretary general, on Pres. Noynoy Aquino’s statement before the New Zealand media. Palabay likewise scoffed at Aquino’s apparent emphasis on the so-called abuses committed against state agents saying that ‘they were pelted with human waste’ in the course of their work, “ as “a diversionary tactic that failed to answer the nagging questions on his administration’s commitment to human rights.”

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He also purposely did not mention that on October 5, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police have mistakenly arrested, tortured and detained the 48-year old Rolly Panesa, a security guard whom they claim as the 61-year old “Benjamin Mendoza,” the so-called secretary of the Communist Party of the Philippines in Southern Luzon. The President is no longer just an expert only in media spins but has already mastered the art of lying,” said Palabay.

Karapatan also said that Aquino’s statement shows his callousness towards the appeals for justice of the families and relatives of the victims.

“To brag about one’s dismal human rights record before the international community smacks of utter insensitivity to the victims and their kin’s plight,” concluded Palabay.